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524312

	registered interest
	date	09/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there is any provision for people claiming Personal Independence Payments who have difficulty in completing questions by hand to be able to complete the forms electronically; and if not, whether they plan to introduce such a facility.
	tabling member printed	The Countess of Mar
	uin	HL583
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2016 answer text <p>We are developing a digital service for claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which brings the current PIP telephony claim and paper form together.</p><p>We have tested a number of different design approaches with users and, based on feedback, are developing an application process that is more tailored to individual needs. From April 2016 we started making the online PIP claim available to a small number of PIP claimants on a voluntary basis. This will allow us to get direct feedback, make ongoing improvements and ensure this new service is effective and secure before it is available nationally.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 16/06/2016 14:20:46 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1861 label Biography information for The Countess of Mar

392023

	registered interest
	date	22/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: LGBT+ People
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Altmann on 13 July stating that the total cost of equalising survivor benefit payments would amount to £3.3 billion (HL Deb, col 343), what assessment they have made of the cost of equalising payments specifically on the grounds of sexual orientation; and whether they consider those costs to be prohibitive.
	tabling member printed	Lord Cashman
	uin	HL1778
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/08/2015 answer text <p>The capitalised cost of eliminating all differences in survivor benefits because of sexual orientation is estimated at £120 million, as set out in the Review of Survivor Benefits in Occupational Pension Schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Although all differences because of sexual orientation in the provision of survivor benefits would be eliminated, differences because of sex would remain. This would mean that there would be differences in treatment between male same sex couples and female same sex couples. This is because male same sex couples would receive survivor benefits based on accruals from 1988 (in line with widowers of an opposite sex marriage), with female same sex couples receiving them based on accruals from 1978 (in line with widows of an opposite sex marriage).</p><p> </p><p>The Government must take into account the costs and all other effects of reducing or eliminating differences before deciding on whether the law should be changed.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 04/08/2015 10:57:32 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	4340 label Biography information for Lord Cashman

513459

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: Fraud
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to protect people against fraud as they are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme, in the light of the recent cuts to the pensions watchdog.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL7716
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2016 answer text <p>The resources allocated to the Pensions Regulator to cover its regulatory responsibilities, together with those for automatic enrolment compliance activity, increased by £3.4m to £79.5m for the financial year 2016/17.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Schemes that can be used by employers to meet their automatic enrolment duties are subject to specific quality requirements. The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority both play an active role in monitoring schemes used for automatic enrolment to ensure that they meet these standards. The Pensions Regulator has also published a list of independently audited ‘master trusts’ pension schemes that employers may wish to use for automatic enrolment.</p><p> </p><p>Both Regulators carry out targeted activity to investigate and mitigate risks, including indicators of possible fraud.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 26/04/2016 13:00:35 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

166087

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions: Fees and Charges
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are measuring the impact of auto-enrolment on fees charged by the investment management industry; and what plans they have to track any changes.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>The Government’s Command Paper, ‘Better Workplace Pensions: Further measures for savers’, published in March, set out a range of measures including a cap on charges in default fund arrangements, a ban on inappropriate charges and proposals to introduce minimum governance standards and improve transparency across workplace defined contribution schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Following this, Government launched its consultation on draft regulations on governance and charges in occupational pension schemes in October 2014. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the majority of this legislation will come into force from April 2015, alongside Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules in relation to workplace personal pension schemes where appropriate. From April 2015, the Government intends to introduce a charge cap on the default funds of qualifying schemes, set at 0.75 per cent of funds under management and the first phase of enhanced transparency with trustees and Independent Governance Committees (IGCs) being required to report on costs and charges for the first time.</p><p> </p><p>In 2015 Government will consult on regulations under duties in the Pensions Act 2014 requiring information about transaction costs to be disclosed to members and others, and the publication of costs and charges information. The FCA also intends to consult on amending their own rules to introduce equivalent enhanced transparency provisions for workplace personal pension schemes during 2015. The Government has also set out its plans to review the level of the default fund charge cap, to see if it should be lowered, and also whether it should include some or all of the transaction costs that are ultimately borne by members within a cap. This review will take place in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>Taken together the combined effect of these measures on charges, governance and transparency and the Government’s commitment to a review should ensure that savers are being enrolled into workplace schemes that are well run and in members’ interests.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:19:52 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

166089

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the basis on which projections of potential returns are used by the investment management industry in communications with pension holders.
	tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
	uin	HL3147
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Since 6 April 2003, certain money purchase pension arrangements have been required to provide members with Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (SMPIs). Legislation requires that statutory illustrations are produced in accordance with guidance prepared by a prescribed body approved by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and by the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland.</p><p>The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the prescribed body and has been since 6 April 2007. The FRC fulfils its obligations through the publication of Actuarial Standard Technical Memorandum AS TM1: Statutory Money Purchase Illustrations (AS TM1). It reviews AS TM1 regularly and the last completed review was carried out in 2013 following the introduction of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/2734) which came into force on 6 April 2014. The AS TM1 specifies that the investment return should take into account the current and anticipated future investment strategy of the member’s funds over the period to retirement and be consistent from year to year, with the rationale documented and made available to members on request.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require a projection at point of sale for contract based pensions. The investment return must reflect the investment potential of the (expected) underlying assets, subject to an overall cap of 5%pa. Flanking projections must be provided using returns which vary by +/- 3%. The FCA has a public commitment to review the basis every 4 years and the next review is due in 2015. The FCA do not require further projections during the lifetime of the contract as pension scheme members will receive statutory statements prepared under DWP legislation. However, where a provider chooses to provide additional projections, they must follow the same basis as point of sale projections.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 08/12/2014 12:26:30 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

227419

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they or the Pensions Regulator have received about the operation of the Pensions Regulator internet portal for the registration of contacts for the automatic enrolment of employees into workplace pensions, in particular in relation to problems with the login details supplied to employers; and what steps they plan to take to rectify any such problems to enable employers to meet the 1 April deadline for registration.
	tabling member printed	Lord Stevens of Ludgate
	uin	HL5740
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2015 answer text <p>The Pensions Regulator has received feedback from some small and micro businesses about the operation of the internet portal for automatic enrolment contact detail registration, known as the &quot;nominate a contact&quot; webpage. This feedback suggests that some users are not very familiar with their PAYE reference. The letters currently sent to customers from the Regulator protects customer data by masking the first 3 digits of their PAYE reference with asterisks and some customers are trying to enter the asterisks as part of their PAYE reference which is generating an error message.</p><p> </p><p>The Regulator is fully aware of the issue. To address it, they are updating the website to clarify exactly what to enter and including the full PAYE reference on relevant letters in future so employers have all the details they need in front of them when prompted by the letter to visit the automatic enrolment contact nomination webpage.</p> answering member printed Lord Freud question first answered 24/03/2015 13:47:18 answering member 3893 label Biography information for Lord Freud
	tabling member	2227 label Biography information for Lord Stevens of Ludgate

390085

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average sum held in the pension funds of people who were enrolled in a pension scheme as part of the auto-enrolment process.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Greengross
	uin	HL1497
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2015 answer text <p /> <p>The information is not available in the format requested.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Findings from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Wealth and Asset survey show that overall, the average (median) amount of wealth held in pensions not yet in payment was £33,000 in 2010/12. There is no breakdown available to show wealth held in funds created due to Automatic Enrolment.</p><p> </p><p>DWP’s annual official statistics on workplace pension participation found that in 2014, the annual total amount saved in workplace pensions by employees eligible for Automatic Enrolment was £80.3 billion, an increase of £6.6 billion from 2012.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 21/07/2015 14:04:34 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	2518 label Biography information for Baroness Greengross

421789

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assist workers who change their jobs, or leave the labour force, to consolidate and aggregate small pension pots.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Drake
	uin	HL2660
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2015 answer text <p>I refer the Noble Baroness to the Written Statement I made on 15 October, HLWS238, which explains why the time is not right to implement a system to consolidate or aggregate small pots.</p><p>Members still have a right to request a member-initiated transfer if they want to move their pots when they change jobs or leave the labour market. To introduce a system of automatic transfers would be a significant new process for both schemes and members to get to grips with at a time when the pensions market is changing fast.</p><p>The introduction of the new State Pension, the continued implementation of automatic enrolment and the introduction of the pensions flexibilities - allowing members more freedom and choice about how and when they access their pensions are all major reforms to pension savings. I believe that the Government, providers, employers and members need to focus on these reforms to ensure their success.</p><p>The future pensions market could look different from the current one. It is important that any system of consolidation is long-lasting and reflects that future landscape.</p><p>This does not mean that the project has ended and I am very grateful for the contributions that the industry has made to this project. I fully intend to ensure that the insight gathered in our extensive engagement with industry should be applied to the model when work is restarted.</p><p> </p><p><br></p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 26/10/2015 16:44:10 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	4155 label Biography information for Baroness Drake

421790

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure value for money is achieved for the pension savings of ex-employees in cases where the employer transfers their pension pots to a pension arrangement exempt from the charge cap regulations.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Drake
	uin	HL2661
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2015 answer text <p>The Occupational Pension Schemes (Charges and Governance) Regulations 2015 set out the tests that an arrangement in an occupational pension scheme to which the charge cap applies must meet in order to be designated as a default.</p><p>Where an employer or trustee switches some or all members’ contributions to a new default arrangement, any funds left in the old default arrangement will continue to be subject to the cap. Where an employer transfers all their employees’ pension pots to a new scheme, contributing members will be protected by the charge cap when the new arrangement meets the test for a default as set out in the Regulations. Where this is the case, ex-employees moved into the same arrangement will also be protected where they have made a contribution after the Regulations came into force.</p><p>Furthermore, the ban on Active Member Discounts will prevent providers from increasing charges for non-contributing members beyond those imposed on a member for whom such contributions are still being made.</p><p>I would be happy to receive any evidence from the Noble Baroness about ex-employees being transferred to an exempt arrangement in occupational schemes.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 26/10/2015 16:57:36 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	4155 label Biography information for Baroness Drake

480017

	registered interest
	date	17/03/2016
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they used to decide on which radio channels to advertise the new workplace pensions; whether they are being advertised on BBC Radio; and if not, why not.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
	uin	HL7128
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2016 answer text <p>We select radio stations to reach the largest proportion of our employer target audience in a cost efficient manner. This is determined by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) listener surveys and using a sample audience profile that represents employers with less than 30 employees.</p><p> </p><p>We are unable to advertise on BBC Radio due to their commercial policy.</p> answering member printed Baroness Altmann question first answered 30/03/2016 14:35:13 answering member 4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford